The present invention generally relates to a system and method for improved medical imaging. Particularly, the present invention relates to a more efficient system and method for configuring and interpreting medical images.
Medical diagnostic imaging systems encompass a variety of imaging modalities, such as x-ray systems, computerized tomography (CT) systems, ultrasound systems, electron beam tomography (EBT) systems, magnetic resonance (MR) systems, and the like. Medical diagnostic imaging systems generate images of an object, such as a patient, for example, through exposure to an energy source, such as x-rays passing through a patient, for example. The generated images may be used for many purposes. For instance, internal defects in an object may be detected. Additionally, changes in internal structure or alignment may be determined. Fluid flow within an object may also be represented. Furthermore, the image may show the presence or absence of objects in an object. The information gained from medical diagnostic imaging has applications in many fields, including medicine and manufacturing.
An example of a medical diagnostic imaging system is Picture Archival Communication Systems (PACS). PACS is a term for equipment and software that permits images, such as x-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI, EBT, MR, or nuclear medicine for example, to be electronically acquired, stored and transmitted for viewing. Images from an exam may be viewed immediately or stored, or transmitted. The images may be viewed on diagnostic workstations by users, for example radiologists. In addition to viewing the images, the user may also view patient information associated with the image for example the name of the patient or the patient's sex.
The data acquired for a PACS system are generally two-dimensional. The two-dimensional data is generally viewed by a user, however, as a series of two-dimensional images. A user may view two-dimensional “slices” of a patient's anatomy. The user may then attempt to mentally reconstruct a three-dimensional model of the patient's anatomy. As each patient is different, the effort to read and understand the two-dimensional data may be time consuming and substantial.
As computer and medical imaging technology has become more sophisticated, PACS diagnostic workstations have become capable of displaying a three-dimensional projection of the medical images. Typically, the display of the three-dimensional medical images is displayed in a similar manner as the two-dimensional images. Additionally, the display of the three-dimensional medical images may be displayed on a similar type of flat two-dimensional capable monitors as the two-dimensional images. The two-dimensional projection of the three-dimensional data of a patient's anatomy may permit a user to rotate, flip, and perform other operations on the image to facilitate the display of data for the user. These types of three-dimensional displays of information are not truly three-dimensional, however, as they are displayed on two-dimensional flat screens. Accordingly, the projection of three-dimensional images onto two-dimensional displays limit the ability of the user to fully utilize the data collected about a patient's anatomy.
In an effort to better utilize three-dimensional data of all sorts, products are being developed to display three-dimensional data as true three-dimensional models on three-dimensional display units (three-dimensional monitors, not stereoscopic monitors), as opposed to three-dimensional data projected on two-dimensional display units. Three-dimensional display units are different than flat-screen 3D as three-dimensional display units offer three-dimensional imagery that truly occupies a volume of space. Such three-dimensional display units display spatial 3D as opposed to flat-screen 3D. As an example, one of the spatial display units currently being developed is the Perspecta™ 3D System by Actuality Systems, Inc. of 213 Burlington Road, Bedford, Mass. 01730, http://www.actuality-systems.com.
Current spatial display units are capable of displaying many types of three-dimensional data. One type of data that may be displayed on spatial display units is three-dimensional medical data. The display of three-dimensional medical data on spatial display units, however, is generally performed independently of other tools available to a doctor or radiologist. Accordingly, a user may utilize a spatial display unit to view three-dimensional medical data, but the user is isolated from other tools that may aide in diagnosis and treatment. A user's workflow may therefore be hampered and unnecessarily time consuming. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method that provides for a relationship between a spatial display unit and other tools available to a physician or radiologist. Such a system and method may allow a user to be more efficient and effective in diagnosing and treating medical conditions.